Hi folks, and welcome to February's assignment. Given we only had four entries in January, this may well be the last assignment in its current form. If you happen to have some good ideas for firing up activity for the assignment, let us know in the comments and questions thread or send me a PM.

This month's theme was suggested by Chopper: A photo starting with the letter 'S'. It could be anything, so long as the main theme or subject of the photo starts with the letter 'S'. In case you haven't joined our community but would like to showcase your work then why not Register now. It's free and we'd love to see what you can do.

PrizeThe winner will receive a free copy of our Wildlife Photography eBook, a downloadable PDF worth $9.97 which you can read on computers, laptops, tablets, iPads, phones, or anything which can open a standard PDF file! You'll find more details here.

Rules1. You can only submit one picture, and it should be no longer than 1024 pixels on it's longest side.2. The picture must be taken in 2014 or during the last six months of 2013.3. Exercise good judgement about what is appropriate on our forum (see our Forum Rules for more information).4. Please include a sentence or two describing your picture or the process of taking it, and share some technical info such as the camera, lens, settings and processing.5. If you have any questions, comments or pictures older than six months, please post them in the Comments and Questions thread.6. Submissions will close at midnight GMT on February 28th 2014, after which you can vote for your favorite entry. Good luck!

It's still happening too, in the middle of the day you can almost hear the tourists sizzling as they cook in the sun! On Assignment, is it a gonner? I fear so ... 20th of the month and only 6 entries. To mis-quote from T.S. Elliot's 'The Hollow Men' This is the way On Assignment ends, Not with a bang but a whimper.